Chapter 5 — One month before the wedding, the doctor gave me a piece of paper

I walked out of the Health Committee building and called Diep Tieu Duong.

“Duong Duong, help me find my full name and how to contact Dr. Lam.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I want to help her.”

Doctor Lam's full name is Lam Tri Vi. Thirty-six years old. Has worked at a community hospital for eight years. Thanks to Diep Tieu Duong's connections in the hospital, I finally got her home address. After work, I went there. An old apartment complex. There is no elevator. I knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door opened. Lam Tri Vi wore simple home clothes, her face was bare and without makeup. Seeing me, she was a bit surprised.

“Doctor Lam, my name is To Niem.”

She nodded.

“Come in quickly.”

It is a small apartment with one living room and one bedroom. Not large but very neat and tidy.

"Doctor Lam, I'm sorry. Because of my matter, you were suspended from work."

She poured me a glass of water and shook her head.

“It has nothing to do with you.”

“When I put that piece of paper into your hand, I already thought about this consequence.”

“So why do you still do that?”

She sat down opposite me. Silence for quite a while.

“Because I went through something similar.”

“Ever experienced it?”

“So did my ex-husband.”

She spoke very calmly.

"Before getting married, he hid the fact that he had active hepatitis B. After getting married, I got infected."

I was stunned.

“After finding out, he told me: 'We've been together for so long, sooner or later you'll get infected, it doesn't make any difference.’”

“What happens after that?”

She smiled faintly.

“But my liver function will never return to the way it was before.”

She looked at me.

“So that day when I saw your fiance's examination results, I couldn't pretend I didn't see anything.”

“Even though it was just an abnormal screening index, while his partner was completely unaware of it…”

“I can't do it.”

“Could you lose your job because of this?”

“So what to do?”

“Let's go step by step.”

She smiled.

“Doing the right thing sometimes always comes at a price.”

I looked at her, my heart heavy.

“Doctor Lam, that price should not be borne by you.”

“You can come visit me, I'm already happy.”

Leaving Lam Tri Vi's house, I sat in the apartment complex for a long time. Then make a decision. I opened my phone. Start writing a post. The title is:

“During my pre-marital exam, a doctor secretly slipped me a piece of paper, and it saved my life.”

I don't use anyone's real name. Just tell the whole story. A fiance hides his illness. A doctor risks being fined to warn a stranger. And the end result is that the person who did the right thing was denounced and suspended from work. I posted on a local forum. Actually, don't expect much. Before going to bed, I opened it and took a look. More than a hundred.

“This man would not be unjust even if he spent three years in prison.”

“The only good person in the story is the doctor.”

“Hiding a serious illness before marriage should be criminally prosecuted.”

I scrolled through each comment. Suddenly saw a completely different comment.

"Hello, I'm a reporter for City Afternoon Newspaper. Can I message you privately?"

I hesitated for a few seconds. Then click agree. Female reporter named Phuong Nhien. She used a very professional tone and asked me a few questions sentence about the incident. Then say:

“Miss To, I think this is not just a personal story of an annulled marriage.”

“This is also a story about the right to know of people preparing to get married, as well as the line between medical confidentiality and the duty to warn.”

“If you agree, I would like to do a specialized interview about this case.”

“Miss To Niem, this kind of thing is not unique.”

The female reporter said.

“We have received similar leads before, but the people involved did not want to speak up.”

“If you agree, I want to do an in-depth report.”

“There is no need to use real names, but it can promote social discussion about this issue.”

"I agree."

“But I have one condition.”

“You just say it.”

“In the article, Dr. Lam's situation must be mentioned.”

“She was suspended simply for doing the right thing.”

“That's not fair.”

“Of course.”

Three days later, the official account of the City Afternoon Newspaper posted an article. 《She accepted the risk of being suspended from work, just to secretly slip a girl a warning note during a pre-marital examination》